Five people were killed today in Russian strikes on Odesa, while the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky and the Prime Minister of Greece Kyriakos Mitsotakis were visiting the port, the Ukrainian authorities announced.
"We confirm the attack on the port infrastructure of the city of Odessa. We confirm the death of five people. There are also wounded," Ukrainian Navy spokesman Dmytro Pletenchuk told France Press.
Mitsotakis said that "at the very end (of the visit), they heard the sound of air raid sirens and explosions nearby" and added that they did not have time to take cover, calling it an "impressive experience".
Zelenski said that people in the Russian army "don't care if the targets are military or civilian, or if there are guests from abroad."
Russia's Defense Ministry claimed responsibility for the missile attack on the Odesa port, saying Russian forces hit "a hangar where Ukrainian armed forces prepare naval drones for combat."
Several regions of Ukraine were targeted by Russian drone attacks the previous night.
The spokesman for the White House National Security Council said that today's Russian strikes in Odessa indicate an "urgent need" to send military aid to Ukraine, especially air defense systems.
The American authorities state that it is too early to say whether Zelenski was the target of today's strikes, France Press reports.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen condemned online X the "vile attack" in Odesa during a visit to Mitsotakis, which she described as "a new attempt at terror" by Russia.
Since the beginning of the Russian invasion, Zelensky has regularly visited cities and military units on the front line, always in secret.
Leaders of other countries have been to Ukraine many times since the beginning of the invasion, and some of them had to go to shelters because air raid sirens went off.
Mitsotakis said that Odessa occupies a special place in Greek history, because the Filiki Heteria organization was founded there, which fought for the independence of Greece from the Turks in the 19th century.
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